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Family Ties	By : Deb Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 19194 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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“Family Ties”

January 2007 ShenLong

Chapter 132

“Sally, could you repeat that? Duo whispered, shock evident on his face.

“Your baby, it’s a hermaphrodite. It’s got the genitalia of both boy and girl,” Sally said softly, still unable to believe what she was seeing.

Margaret soon had them all moving though. She grabbed the blanket she’d put to the side and wrapped it around the infant. “I don’t care what it is, this baby needs to be kept warm, fed and loved,” she stated firmly. “Doctor, would you please cut the umbilical cord and take care of your patient? I’ll see to the child for the moment.”

“What? Oh yes, yes of course,” Sally said, her duty to her patient coming through her shocked brain and reminding her that she was a professional first and foremost. She secured the cord before cutting it and letting the nurse take charge of the infant. Whilst Margaret took care of the baby, Sally removed the placenta and checked her patient over thoroughly before starting the arduous task of stitching Duo back up.

Heero and Duo remained in shock, neither man quite comprehending what Sally had said.

Nurse Brown took the baby and weighed it, writing the weight on the small card. Next she measured the child and noted that down too. Coming to the spot where she would fill out the sex of the child, she paused and decided to wait to fill that out later. Wrapping the infant securely back in a clean blanket, she approached the parents with the child.

Immediately Duo spotted his baby his eyes misted over and his arms reached out for the child. Margaret placed the baby in them and gave a warm smile of reassurance. Duo’s violet eyes swept over the innocent face and an overwhelming urge to protect this helpless being came over him. He pressed a tender kiss to the baby’s forehead. “Welcome to the world, munchkin,” he whispered softly.

Leaning close, Heero’s eyes took in his child and he couldn’t help the tears that ran down his cheeks. “Beautiful,” he murmured and ran a finger softly against the baby’s cheek.

The child opened its mouth and gave a wide yawn before snuggling into the blanket. It was completely unaware of the confusion and questions it had raised with its birth.

Leaving the new parents to explore their child, Nurse Brown went back to assisting Sally with her stitching of Duo’s abdomen.

Both men were content to simply gaze at their tiny miracle for the moment, the baby’s skin soft and although it was still wrinkled from being in the amniotic fluid for so long, the skin was starting to smooth out and a pink hue was forming.

“I think the hair color is going to take after yours,” Heero mused.

“You think so?” Duo replied and stared at the soft, downy covering atop of the baby’s head. In the light of the operating room the hair did seem to shine with chestnut and gold highlights. “I wonder what the eye color will be?” Whilst they pondered that thought for a moment, Duo did a visual scan and counted fingers. The revelation had startled and shocked him, but now that shock was receding a touch and logic thought was taking over. Neither man had wanted to say anything about the baby’s sex, uncomfortable with what had happened and not wanting to upset their partner. But sooner or later they would need to discuss it, to see for themselves exactly what the extent of the genitalia their child had of both sexes.

Placing the dressing over Duo’s abdomen, Sally pulled the surgical gown back down whilst Nurse Brown removed the curtain. Smiling at the pair, Sally discarded her mask into the trash along with her gloves. “How are you feeling, Duo?”

“Fine,” Duo replied.

A heavy silence hung in the air.

Finally, Sally summoned up her courage and began to speak. “Duo, Heero, I know this must have come as a shock to you both-”

“That’s a fuc... freaking understatement if I ever heard one,” muttered Duo.

“It came as a shock to me too, although in retrospect, it is a possibility I should have thought about considering that you are a hermaphrodite yourself, Duo. It would stand to common sense you would carry the gene for it.”

“Okay, we all agree that this isn’t what we expected. Right now we don’t know if we have a son or a daughter, but I will tell you this. This is my baby, mine and Heero’s and I don’t give a damn what it is, we will love it unconditionally,” Duo stated fiercely.

“I would expect nothing less,” Sally returned with a soft smile. “That brings me to the next bit. We need to examine the child fully, do some tests, scans and such to try and determine which set of organs are complete and will work as the child grows up. This is modern science, Duo. Unlike yourself when you were born, this child was born in a hospital where we can assist in such a situation. We can surgically correct this and enable the child to grow up as a happy, healthy and normal child of whichever sex is determined to be the correct or dominant one.”

Violet and cobalt locked, each man at war with his feelings and emotions. Neither man wanted the child to grow up like Duo had and suffer being ‘different’, not that Duo had known about his condition; but this needed some serious thought, discussion and decisions as to what would be best for the child.

“Sally, I think Duo and I would need to spend some time alone and talk about this. We agree, this is able to be corrected, but we need to discuss it.”

“I appreciate that, guys. Look, I’d suggest we move Duo to his room shortly and get this baby bathed, dressed and fed. Whilst we are doing that you can both see for yourselves what genitalia the child has and that may help a little in your discussion. Once the baby is in your private room I’ll go find an ultra sound machine and bring it to the room and we can check the baby internally as well and see exactly what extent of each sex’s organs it has. ”

“Thanks, Sally. I’m not disputing that the condition needs to be corrected, but I think we need to have all the facts, the test results as well as the visual results for us to make an informed and correct decision as to which sets of organs are removed,” Duo said quietly. He hoped Sally would understand what it was he was trying to say; hell, he wasn’t quite sure if he understood it himself!

“No worries, Duo. I’ll go hunt up that ultra sound machine now.” With a reassuring smile, Sally left, passing Nurse Brown on her way out.

“There is one slight problem,” came Nurse Brown’s voice as she entered the operating theater again, having returned from placing the surgical cloths into the laundry bin. “There’s a certain blonde man out there who is almost breaking down the door to know if he has a niece or nephew.”

“Shit! Quatre. I’d forgotten about him.”

“So it seems, Duo,” Margaret said with a smile.

Duo looked to Heero and the silent communication passed between them. “Let him come in. I’m quite okay with letting him know the truth, same for Trowa and Wufei. I feel they deserve to know and it won’t make any difference to the child.”

“I’ll go get him.” Margaret went to fetch the blonde.

* * *

Wufei yawned as he stretched. Reaching for his tea, he glanced at the clock. It was three-fifteen. “Do you think Maxwell has had the baby yet?”

“I don’t know. I assume he would be close to Sally delivering him if she hasn’t already. Quatre did say he would call as soon as he had any news for us,” Trowa replied.

“I wonder if he will have a girl this time,” Wufei mused.

“Could be another boy,” Trowa returned, his green eyes lighting up a touch. “Want to have a little wager on the side?”

“Pardon?” Wufei turned his dark eyes to the Latin.

“Would you like to make a bet on what sex the baby will be? You know, I’ll bet you five bucks Duo has a boy. If he does, then you pay me five dollars. If you bet he has a girl and it is a girl, then I pay you five dollars.”

“Naughty boy, naughty boy,” chirped Barney.

“Barney, it’s quite a legitimate bet if Wufei wishes to accept,” Trowa informed the bird.

Barney ruffled his feathers but kept his beady eyes on the pair.

“Let me get this straight. I bet you five dollars that Maxwell has a girl. If I am right, you pay me five dollars. If I am wrong and it is a boy, I pay you five dollars?”

“That’s correct, Wufei.”

“Okay, I’ll take your bet. I’ll say Maxwell is having a girl.”

“And I bet he’s having a boy.” Trowa reached into his pocket and produced a five dollar note, putting it on the table. Wufei frowned but did the same. “Once we hear from Quatre as to the baby’s sex, whoever is correct takes the money.”

Barney watched the proceedings with interest, cocking his head to the side and taking it all in.

“Want another cup of tea?” asked Trowa. “I have a feeling we could be here for a little while.”

“Thank you, that would be welcome. I’ll go check on Keitaro, shall I?” Wufei responded.

“That would be a good idea. Thanks.” Trowa got up to make a fresh pot of tea whilst Wufei went to check on the child.

* * *

“Well? What is it? Do I have a niece or nephew?” Quatre demanded, bouncing on his feet in his excitement as Nurse Brown allowed him to come into the operating room.

Both Heero and Duo looked at the beaming blonde. “You tell him, Heero,” Duo said, clearly passing the task over.

Sighing and wondering how the heck he had gotten himself into this position, Heero focused his gaze on Quatre’s excited form. “Quatre, I’m afraid we really don’t know yet what the baby is.”

“Huh? What do you mean, you don’t know? All you have to do is take a look... Ummm a peek between the legs.” Quatre blushed with his words.

“That’s just it, Quatre. The baby is a hermaphrodite.”

“Ah – what?” Quatre whispered.

“A hermaphrodite. It has the sex organs of both male and female. The same as Duo, or sort of.”

“Well, shit.” Quatre’s eyes rolled back in his head.

“Catch him!” yelled Duo as Heero made a dive for the falling blonde, Nurse Brown also making a grab for Quatre.

They managed between them to grab hold before Quatre could hit the hard floor and do any damage to himself. “Prop his feet up and I’ll fetch some smelling salts,” Margaret muttered. “What is it with men and fainting? I thought we’d gotten beyond that after the first pregnancy,” she continued as she left the room.

Quatre was brought around with the aid of the smelling salts and after confirming what he’d heard hadn’t been a bad dream, his concerns were for the child and what Heero and Duo were prepared to do about the situation. Heero explained whilst Nurse Brown fetched Duo’s bed back into the operating theater and with both men assisting, she managed to get Duo across and into his hospital bed. With the baby secure in his arms, the nurse, assisted by Heero, wheeled the bed from the operating room and into the isolation ward. Duo was set up in his private room, the same one as he’d used when he’d had Keitaro.

Once he was brought up to speed with everything, Quatre immediately offered whatever financial assistance he could to the pair, even offering expert medical treatment if they wished. Whilst both men appreciated the kind gesture, they politely refused, knowing that Sally would be more than capable of looking after the infant. Quatre respected the decision but left the offer open if they should change their minds.

“Doctor Po will be here in a minute with that ultra sound machine, then we can take a proper look at the child and decide from there what would be the best course of action to take,” the nurse said. “Whilst we’re waiting, I’ll fetch a bottle for the child, a diaper and some clothing. Once the baby is fed and Doctor Po has done her examination, I’ll bathe the child for you and dress him or her.”

“Thank you,” Duo said, the gratitude in his eyes. He was still completely numb from the waist down and would remain so for some time yet, so doing much of anything at all for the child was pretty much out of his hands right now. Also, unlike the last time with Keitaro, Duo hadn’t developed much in the way of breast tissue and what little he had got hadn’t produced any form of milk.

Moments later the nurse returned with the promised bottle and gave it to Duo who with Heero’s help had propped himself up in the bed and was now in a sitting position, child cradled in his arms. Duo had wondered if he would remember how to care for an infant, would he remember how to feed, burp and change diapers? He needn't have worried, it all came back to him and he found himself automatically cradling the baby in the feeding position, teat at the child’s lips as the hungry mouth opened and began to suck enthusiastically.

Both Heero and Quatre watched, Heero’s eyes all misty as he watched his child drink, once more in awe of the little being he’d helped to create. Quatre was just delighted to be a part of such an intimate moment between infant and ‘mother’.

It didn’t take long for the baby to finish the bottle, Duo handing the child over to Heero who carefully supported the baby as he brought up the wind. The infant had just finished bringing up the last of the air when Sally entered, pushing an ultra sound machine.

“Ah, gentlemen. Getting all settled with the new arrival I see,” she commented as she wheeled the machine across to the bed. She raised an eyebrow in Quatre’s direction, Duo seeing the unspoken question in her eyes.

“It’s okay, Sally. Quatre knows about the baby and we plan on letting Wufei and Trowa know too. It’s only fair that they do being uncles and all,” Duo told her. “You know, it’s funny, but I thought I would have forgotten how to feed, change and burp a baby, but I haven’t. It’s all come flooding back to me as if it were only yesterday that Keitaro was born,” Duo said.

“Hai,” Heero agreed, his eyes locked firmly on the child that lay in his arms blinking sleepily at him, completely unaware of the problems that surrounded it.

“The baby has been fed and burped,” Nurse Brown advised. “I thought it would be best to bathe and dress the child after you’ve done your ultra sound scans and such.”

“Good idea,” Sally replied, plugging the machine in and switching it on. Turning to the child’s parents, she spoke in a brisk tone. “Okay, gentlemen. I’ll examine the child properly now with you all present, that way you can see exactly what I’m talking about.” Sally reached for the infant. “Heero, if I may?”

Every instinct Heero had screamed at him to hang onto the child, to protect it, but he knew Sally wouldn’t harm his child, she was only trying to make this all better. It was hard, but he managed to hand the baby over to the doctor. He made sure to hover very close though, almost breathing down Sally’s neck.

Laying the infant down on Duo’s bed, close to both parents, Sally began to unravel the blanket from around the child. Once the baby was bare, everyone found their eyes straying to the child’s groin. Sally was very professional though and broke the silence that had fallen over the room with her brisk, clinical voice.

“As you can see, gentlemen. The child does have a penis, although it is very small and appears to be not quite developed. This baby also has full female anatomy on the outside that I can see. I am tending to swing more to the child being a female than a male as there isn’t any evidence of a scrotum or testicles at this stage.”

Whilst appreciating the doctor’s frankness, all three men couldn’t help but squirm a little, none of them at ease with discussing such intimate things. Sally didn’t bat an eyelid though. She was a trained professional through and through.

“The ultra sound pictures will show us exactly what internal anatomy the child has and if it is as I suspect and more to the female side, then I would suggest that is the direction we should take in rectifying the problem. On the other hand, I could be completely wrong and the child may not have a womb, ovaries or fallopian tubes and could have testes after all; and that would mean possible surgical intervention to not only remove the female side of things but to also reconstruct the penis as it’s isn’t properly developed from what I can tell.”

“Eh?” Duo scratched his head.

“I don’t think we quite follow,” Heero stated, a little lost himself.

Quatre just shrugged and opted to remain silent. He was sure someone would fill him in later, once they all understood what was going on.

Sally gave a grin. “It is all quite complicated, but really rather simple too. Look, let’s take a look at the child’s insides and go from there.”

“Okay,” said Duo, a little reluctant to know the facts, but needing to anyway for the sake of the child. He didn’t want this baby to grow up and go through the things he’d had to when there was every chance that the child could be ‘normal’ through surgical intervention.

The baby whimpered a little when the cool gel made contact with its skin. Heero was immediately there, hands clenching and unclenching as he fought with his natural instinct to snatch the child up and soothe it.

“Sorry, little one,” Sally crooned. Duo’s hand was at the baby’s head, fingers running gently across the pale cheek in a reassuring gesture. The child blinked, sighed and tried to turn its head into the warm touch of its mother; unfortunately, it didn’t have control over the muscles at this early stage.

Margaret passed over the sound head to Sally and watched the monitor intently.

“Ready?” asked Sally.

“I guess so,” Duo breathed.

“Don’t worry, this won’t hurt the child at all, although it may cause the baby to whimper a little as it’s a foreign sensation,” warned Sally.

Heero nodded and placed one hand behind his back, the other he grasped Duo’s free hand with and held on tight.

The sound head was lowered, Sally being careful with the amount of pressure she applied to the apparatus. The baby did whimper and try to wriggle a little. Sally followed the movement though with skilled ease. The screen of the machine began to clear, the usual blur of gray, white and black lines making their appearance.

It was all still just a jumble of shaded areas to the men, none of them having figured out how to translate the images despite having seen enough of them. Sally’s face was a mask of concentration as she studied the screen, Nurse Brown also wore a look of total concentration on her face.

Watching the doctor carefully, Duo looked for any sign at all as to what Sally could be thinking, what the outcome would be for his child. Unable to take much more of the silence, he spoke, voice coming out in barely a whisper. “What’s the verdict, Sally?”

“One moment, Duo,” replied Sally and pressed a couple of buttons on the machine. After another minute or two, she removed the sound head from the child’s abdomen and wiped it off before placing it back on the side of the machine to be cleaned properly.

Nurse Brown moved in and gently picked up the child, wrapping the blanket securely around the infant before turning to Heero and Duo. “I’ll go bathe the child and dress them, then I’ll bring the baby back,” she informed.

Both men gave a nod of their head in affirmation. As the nurse went to do what she’d said, both men turned their attention back to Sally.

Sally perched herself on the side of Duo’s bed and gazed from one man to the other. “The ultra sound confirms what I suspected. The child has all the female organs internally and whilst they are obviously small, they are all fully developed. I also located a deformed testicle inside. It isn’t causing any problems at the moment, but it will need to be removed, and soon. It is my professional opinion that this child displays more female characteristics than male and therefore I would recommend the removal of that deformed testicle and also the underdeveloped penis.” Sally fell silent then, giving the men a few moments to digest the information

“Are you sure, Sally? This is a big decision to make and will affect this child’s future so we need to be certain of this,” Heero stated.

“It is always a risk, there’s that question there of am I doing the right thing, but I’m one hundred percent certain in this case, Heero. Look, I’ve got other ultra sound pictures in my files from different babies. I’ll go get a few and compare them with the ultra sound pictures of your baby’s internal organs, that way we can be sure beyond doubt that the female parts are all there, the correct size and everything else they should be for a healthy female baby.”

“Arigato. I don’t mean to be awkward or question your abilities...”

“Heero, there is no need to apologize. I understand completely and to be honest, I’d feel much happier in my own mind if we are to compare the images. I’ll be right back.” Sally left to fetch the other scans.

Turning his blue eyes to his partner, Heero noted the fear and uncertainty in Duo’s violet orbs. He gave the hand still clutched in his own a reassuring squeeze. “I’m sure we will be able to make an informed decision once we can compare the pictures,” he said softly.

Nodding, Duo replied, “I know we will, Heero.”

Clearing his throat, Quatre stepped forward. “Uh, guys, I know this is really an intense time with a lot of decisions to be made, but,” he swallowed, “Would you mind if I called Trowa and Wufei? I think we should let them know what is going on as they are bound to be worried and probably thinking something bad has happened as they haven’t been told yet of the birth and it’s been a while.”

“Shit! I’d forgotten about Tro and Wu,” Duo exclaimed. He knew the other two men were intelligent enough to have a rough idea of the time frame involved in getting him to the hospital and Sally delivering the child. Having not heard anything to this point they would both most likely be gnawing on their fingernails by now. “I think you’d better call them, Quat. Let them know the situation and that we will bring them both more up to speed when we’ve made our decision.”

“No problem.” Quatre stepped out of the room to make his call, leaving the new parents alone for a short time.

* * *

Back at the mansion, Trowa glanced at the clock again. “Surely Sally must have delivered the child by now,” he muttered.

Wufei looked up from the game of Solitaire he was playing and frowned. “It is unusual that we haven’t heard anything,” he offered. “Maybe we should call the hospital?”

“I was thinking about that but I didn’t want to in case they are having problems and I’d disturb them. I also don’t know what protocol Sally has put in place regarding Duo and his secret. It would be my luck I’d get a nurse who knows nothing at all about what is going on and I’d drop Duo right in the shit.”

“Good point.”

Trowa’s cell chose that moment to ring, frightening the pair briefly. Trowa scrambled to pull the device from his pocket. “It’s Quatre,” he said, noting the caller ID. Flipping the device open, he pressed it against his ear, “Barton.”

Wufei watched the other man’s face as he spoke with Winner, trying to get some form of idea of what was going on from the other man’s expressions. He shouldn’t have wasted his time. Baton’s face remained its neutral mask. His brow knitted as he listened to the one side of the conversation. He could tell something was up from Trowa’s side of it. When Barton said his goodbyes and closed the cell, he couldn’t wait any longer. “What’s wrong? Has Maxwell delivered yet? Is everything okay?”

Trowa rubbed his forehead before turning his green eyes to Wufei. “Sally has delivered the child and Duo is doing okay so far. The baby is also well,” he added quickly when Wufei’s mouth began to open. “Quatre didn't say too much but it appears there is a bit of a problem with the baby and they are currently sorting it out.”

“I see. Did he say what the child is? What the problem is?”

“That’s the problem.”

“Excuse me?”

“The baby, it’s neither a boy nor a girl.” Seeing the confusion on Wufei’s face, Trowa continued. “The baby is a hermaphrodite. Right now they are trying to determine which sex it is favoring the most.” Trowa didn't need to say anymore, they all knew about hermaphrodites, each one of them having learned as much as they could about the condition once they were aware of Duo’s special make up.

Wufei’s eyes glinted for a moment. “Hmmm, that does pose a problem. I assume that Sally will be looking at all the possibilities?”

“Of course.”

“Then I guess this means our bet is off, null and void.” Wufei reached to take back his five dollars.

Trowa shrugged. “I guess so.” He couldn’t believe his bad luck. Maybe I should do as Quatre said and give up betting, he thought. Doesn’t seem like I can win even on a sure fire thing such as what sex a baby will be!

* * *

Sally returned moments after Quatre stepped back into the room. She brought the pictures over to the bed and retrieving the ones she’d taken earlier of Duo’s child, she began to point out the various shaded areas and identify the organs they represented. After looking at three or four and comparing to their own, both Heero and Duo could start to see the similarities there.

They were about half way through when Nurse Brown returned with the infant now freshly bathed, diapered and dressed. She handed the babe over to Heero who held the child close to his chest. The baby was sound asleep, small fist tucked up under the chin. Heero smiled lovingly at his child. Suddenly all the problems, the differences, the shock of the birth paled into insignificance when confronted by the innocence of the sleeping babe.

Heero knew then what was the right thing to do.

~ * ~

to be concluded...
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- 133
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Family Ties